Sealing device for meters and the like



March 4, 1952 MOORE 2,587,876

SEALING DEVICE FOR METERS AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 4, 1950 I N V EN T 0R. /fOEf/W' [77002:

Patented Mar. 4, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SEALING DEVICE OREMETERS AND THE IK Robert Franklin Moore, Pueblo, Colo.

Application December 4, 1950, Serial No. 199,045

This invention relates to a sealing device for sealing meters, meter boxes, freight cars, and other equipment where it is desired to prevent and detect unauthorized tampering, and has for its principal object the provision of a simple, highly efficient, and secure sealing device which can be quickly and easily sealed without the use of tools, and which, when once sealed, cannot be unsealed without destroying the entire device.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efliciency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a perspective view of an outer cup member employed in the improved sealing device;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a disc member employed in the device, illustrating the outer face thereof;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, illustrating the inner face of the disc;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view, illustrating the improved sealing device ready for sealing;

Fig. 5 is a cross-section through the device of Fig. 4, taken on the line 5-5 in the latter figure;

Fig. 6 is a similar cross-section, illustrating the device in the sealed position;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the complete sealing device in the sealed position;

Fig. 8 is a cross-section therethrough, taken on the line 8-8, Fig. 6; and

Fig. 9 illustrates a length of sealing wire employed with the improved sealing device.

The improved sealing device consists of three parts. an outer shell ill, a shell sealing disc ll, anda length of relatively soft, flexible wire I2.

The shell Ill has a relatively fiat, cup-like contourwith a closed outer face 13 and a normally open inner face. The outer face I3 is provided with an elongated, arcuate, eccentrically posi tioned wire turning opening M.

The disc II has a diameter to fit snugly into the shell Ill, where it is retained by spinning or rolling the edge of the shell inwardly to form a retaining flange [5. The disc is provided with two-wire receiving openings 16 and I1 arranged diametrically opposite each other.

The central portion of the disc is indented to 3 Claims. (Cl. 292-315) form an axially positioned boss or winding protuberance IS. The height of the protuberance I8 is substantially equal to the depth of the shell l0 so that when the disc is in place in the shell, the protuberance will contact the outer face I 3 of the shell.

An elongated tag member I9 is soldered or otherwise secured or formed on the inner face of the disc II and extends diametrically therefrom. The tag member l9 serves a double purpose. First, it provides a handle by means of which the disc ll may be held or rotated, and it provides a tag for carrying the name of the user, the number 0f-the seal, and other identi-- fying material.

The wire 12 may be secured at one extremity to the disc H in any desired manner. As illustrated, it is provided with a loop 20 adjacent one extremity. Before the sealing device is assembled, the loop 20 is placed over the protuberance l8 and the wire is extended through the wire opening l6, as shown in Fig. 3. The disc is then placed within the cup I0 and the flange I4 is rolled inwardly to retain the disc permanently and rotatably in place.

The seals are furnished to the trade with the disc locked in place in the shell and with the free extremity of the wire l2 protruding from the disc II. To apply the seal, the wire I 2 is bent through or about the deviceor devices being sealed, and the free extremity of the wire is passed through the opening H and through the opening [4 so as to protrude from the outer face l3, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

To seal. the device, the tag member I9 is gripped in one hand and the shell I0 is rotated with the other hand. This causes the elongated wireturning opening I to rotate about the axis of the protuberance l8 so as to wind the free extremity of the wire about the protuberance until the latter extremity disappears within the shell II]. This securely coils the normally free extremity of the wire about the protuberance, as shown in Figs. 6 and 8, and securely and permanently ties both extremities of the wire together.

Since the opening I4 is elongated, it allows the wire to swing sideward as it winds without kinking the wire. The openings l6 and I1, however. are but slightly larger than the wire so that the latter is bent sharply against the inner face of the disc to form a lock to resist withdrawal.

Since the end of the wire has been pulled from the opening II at the completion of the winding, reverse rotation of the shell has no eifect thereon, and the wire cannot be unwound or disengaged without completely destroying the device.

If preferred, the circumference of the shell may be corrugated or knurled, as shown at 2| in Fig. 1, to facilitate the finger grip thereon for rotae tive purposes.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is :to be understood that the same may be varied, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A sealing device for meters and the like comprising: a cup-like shell having one closed face; a disc rotatably mounted in said shell and closing the open face thereof; aninwardly extending, axially positioned protuberance on said disc extending inwardly into said shell to the closed face thereof; and a length of wire attached at one extremity to said disc and extending eccenopening for receiving the-other extremity of said wire, the fixed extremity of said wirebeing se- 25 2,003,

4 cured about said protuberance and extending outward through a second eccentrically positioned wire opening in said disc.

2. A sealing device for meters, and the like as described in claim 1 in which the first opening in the disc is placed diametrically opposite the second opening therein, and in which the opening in the closed face of the shell is positioned to align with the first opening in the disc.

3. A sealing device as described in claim 2 in which the opening in the closed face of the shell is arcuately elongated to allow the wire to tilt therein as the shell is rotated with reference to the disc.

ROBERT FRANKLIN MOORE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 720,806 Hiett Feb. 1'7, 1903 1,594,472 Simmons Aug. 3, 1926 Moore June 4, 1935 

